Medway Community Forest Co-op
PO Box 157 B0T 1B0 Caledonia, NS, Canada

Interested in learning more about different harvesting practices? Check out this very educational video on commercial thinning in even-aged red spruce stand from our friends at Western Woodlot Services Co-op!

Exciting news for Mi'kmaq-led land conservation and stewardship in Nova Scotia!

Our ED, Mary Jane Rodger will be presenting on Biodiversity Management in the MCFC at the next Blomidon Naturalists Society meeting on Monday May 17th at 7:30pm. Follow the link to register and learn more about our silent season for migratory birds and ongoing biodiversity monitoring!

We’re happy to share that last week we began an irregular shelterwood harvest with RC Weare Logging. In this version, the prescription reduces the overall basal area by 40%. This is done through clearing 25 odd shaped patches that are marked by our foresters, and an overall thinning of 30% between them. Following existing stand openings and presence of advanced regeneration, we mark small patches to remove poorer quality trees and open up space on the forest floor for shade ...tolerant to mid-tolerant species to regenerate. With a good seed source for red oak and white pine and some added space and sunlight, this cut helps promote a diversity of species and multi-aged forest conditions. These patches mimic the loss of an old super canopy tree, or small blowdown and are around 0.1 ha in size. We hope to be able to host a tour or two once it’s finished up to see how it’s turned out and chat more with you about ecological forestry practices. #ecologicalforestry #maritimeforestry #acadianforest #foresteducation #fellerbuncher

It’s a treasure hunt of signs of spring... what’s your favourite part of this time of year!? Today we found some red maple flowers blooming and small patches of mayflower (Nova Scotia’s official flower), they smells so good for such tiny flowers. Have a great weekend out there! ... #acadianforest #communityforestry #signsofspring See more

We’re happy to share that last week we began an irregular shelterwood harvest with RC Weare Logging. In this version, the prescription reduces the overall basal area by 40%. This is done through clearing 25 odd shaped patches that are marked by our foresters, and an overall thinning of 30% between them. Following existing stand openings and presence of advanced regeneration, we mark small patches to remove poorer quality trees and open up space on the forest floor for shade ...tolerant to mid-tolerant species to regenerate. With a good seed source for red oak and white pine and some added space and sunlight, this cut helps promote a diversity of species and multi-aged forest conditions. These patches mimic the loss of an old super canopy tree, or small blowdown and are around 0.1 ha in size. We hope to be able to host a tour or two once it’s finished up to see how it’s turned out and chat more with you about ecological forestry practices. #ecologicalforestry #maritimeforestry #acadianforest #foresteducation #fellerbuncher

Get your firewood orders in! Sustainably harvested bulk roadside firewood delivered to you in 8-foot lengths. Each tree thoughtfully selected and marked by our foresters ensures we retain and release high quality growing stock and wildlife features. ... The wood is 90% maple (red and sugar mix) and the odd stick of beech, oak, white and yellow birch. Our minimum order is 6 cords, and the price is $90/cord plus $35-40/cord for delivery to our main delivery areas (Bridgewater - Annapolis Royal - Middleton - Liverpool), $40-$50/cord for up to 40 km outside our main areas, and $60/cord to the HRM. We are expecting all 8-foot orders to go out in June. Orders can be placed at [email protected] or by calling (902) 701-0505. Thank you for supporting community forestry in Nova Scotia!

Taking place tomorrow evening! This is a great way to learn about land birds at risk - what they look and sound like, where to find them, and find out how you can help by reporting sightings and taking part in important research to study management practices that benefit these birds.

It’s a treasure hunt of signs of spring... what’s your favourite part of this time of year!? Today we found some red maple flowers blooming and small patches of mayflower (Nova Scotia’s official flower), they smells so good for such tiny flowers. Have a great weekend out there! ... #acadianforest #communityforestry #signsofspring See more

Believe it or not, it is possible to have large machinery conduct ecological forestry After a long hiatus, and maybe cutting it a little close to the upcoming firewood season, we’re happy to have local contractors, RC Weare Logging back and working on this hardwood selection harvest. Winter is the ideal time to cut hardwoods since the trees are dormant and the machinery poses less risk for soil disturbance and compaction. The goal of this treatment is to remove 30% of the s...tand, encouraging growth of healthy young trees and removing trees that are in poor health or have significant defects (while preserving a generous number of cavity and legacy trees). This type of cut actually aims to grow the residual trees, and allows the trees to sequester more carbon over time. This stand is a little unique in that it is a mostly even-aged sugar maple stand, but we hope to build in more resiliency by diversifying the forest structure and creating more light for shade tolerant species to regenerate. #ecologicalforestry #nsforests #sugarmaple #acadianforest Tigercat forestry equipment

Are you a woodlot owner? Consider taking 15 minutes to complete the following survey from the Department of Lands and Forestry so they can better understand landowner values and support programs. As landowners make decisions about how they use and manage their woodlands, we want to hear from them and ensure they have access to information, programs and other resources that can help them meet their goals. https://novascotia.ca/news/release/?id=20210120001

Tune in and learn about some interesting ways we can use technology to support forest management, research, and restoration. With new provincial LiDAR data available, there’s plenty more to explore and ways to utilize these tools. Heba Jarrar joined us last spring as our new outreach intern. Among other things, Heba organized our summer webinar series and the MCFC Map of the Woods (coming soon!). This fall, Heba analyzed multispectral imagery collected during our drone survey... done by Orix Geoscience in 2019 for her Masters of Forest Conservation Capstone project. Click the link to register - See you then! https://www.medwaycommunityforest.com//exploring-the-mcfc-

Something a little different from across the pond to put a smile on your face this morning! If only we had that flat terrain we could have our own team of ponies logging firewood on the MCFC lands

Some of the MCFC crew gathered to check out some recent and ongoing pre-commercial thinning (PCT) work happening near Little Mud Lake. This specific site was harvested about 10 years ago, and the PCT helps improve the overall health of the regenerating stand when closely spaced, young trees, and clumps are competing with each other. As pictured, hardwoods such as oak and maple commonly sprout many new stems from a previously cut stump in a clump. This process is known as co...ppicing, as the tree’s root system sends out shoots to continue photosynthesis and re-establish, producing clones of the original tree. The operator selects to keep the most dominant, straight, and healthy stem or three in this case (it was a big clump!). The removal prescription favours species diversification and each prescription is unique to the stand depending on species, density, and ground conditions. We’re happy to see a good diversity of natural regeneration. Our aim is for the work we do today to restore and promote natural Acadian forest conditions for future generations. #communityforests #ecologicalforestry #precommercialthinning #healthyforests #forestregeneration #fieldofclones